Gainesville, Georgia

do the same.” Of course growth has its problems and its challenges. “As you grow, traffic is a growth pain that we have,” Lackey admits. “We’re fortunate that most of our major routes are state routes, maintained by the Georgia Department of Transportation. From an operating side we’re blessed, but it also means they’re not ours to control. So, we have to work with them. We’ve taken over the operation of the traffic signals, even on those state routes, and implemented an ‘intelligent traffic system.’ It has cameras in place in intersections that monitor traffic and coordinates red lights based on demand; we also have traffic engineers in our traffic control center, where our staff can change the timing on them to make traffic flow as best as possible. “Also, Gainesville runs the airport for our community – Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport. It was given to us by the Navy at the end of World War II, with an historic terminal building. However, it’s fallen into disrepair and we’re in the middle of a major renovation to bring some modern amenities to it. We’re fortunate